HANG TIME, Texas — Close your eyes and think of those days when the Bulls were a mean, snorting threat to win it all. Try to remember way back when they took the floor with their heads down, horns sharp, pawing at the dirt, ready to challenge LeBron James and the Heat for Eastern Conference supremacy and make a run at their first championship since the Jordan Era.

Was it just three months ago?

From the moment Derrick Rose crumpled in a heap at the end of the playoff opener against Philadelphia, a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, it was obvious that 2012-13 was going to be a different kind of season in Chicago.

But this summer has been more like Extreme Makeover: Lake Michigan Edition.

Kyle Korver has been shipped off to Atlanta. C.J. Watson is now in Brooklyn. Omer Asik is the latest to hit the door, landing in Houston when the Bulls chose not to match a three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet.

As noted by our well-respected friend Rick Telander in the Chicago Sun-Times:

A Bulls team that last offseason seemed so improved, so solid, so primed to take on the Miami Heat and go for the NBA crown, with fine starters and a feisty Bench Mob, isn’t exactly a memory, but it’s a fading vapor.

Even as the Heat celebrates and LeBron James says ‘‘uh-huh’’ to all his doubters, the Bulls seem to be saying, ‘‘Huh?’’

The team is built around beloved homegrown point guard Derrick Rose. Last season, there was tall Joakim Noah to rebound and defend, big Carlos Boozer to score and rebound, lithe Luol Deng to do everything, slippery Rip Hamilton to receive assists from Rose and Rose himself to be a rolling hand grenade. And then the Mob would descend on foes like a plague of locusts.

That was the plan. That’s how it worked — for a time.
Then came chaos.

Noah, Boozer, Deng, Hamilton, and Rose are still here. But who is healthy? Who is certain? What is there to stand in the way of a possible Heat dynasty?

The Bulls did welcome guard Kirk Hinrich back into the fold. But these days he is best cast in the role of a reserve.

Other summertime additions have been Nazr Mohammed, Marco Belinelli, and Vladimir Radmanovic while second-year swingman Jimmy Butler showed positive signs in Las Vegas. All told, that is hardly a five-some that is going to make LeBron and Dwyane Wade do much more than yawn. Not when the Heat have supplemented their roster with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis.

So what in the name of Benny the Bull is going on in Chicago? General manager Gar Forman said on draft night last month: “Our decisions this summer will be basketball decisions, not financial decisions.”

Yet the trade-offs from Asik to Mohammed and Korver to Radmanovich have certainly come with cheaper price tags, as pointed out by K.C Johnson in the Chicago Tribune:

In the wake of Derrick Rose’s knee injury, the Bulls have made their decisions. Whether they are interpreted as basketball or financial is in the eye of the beholder.

On the one hand, the Bulls will enter luxury-tax territory for the first time in franchise history. But they will do so after letting Asik walk for nothing, an asset Forman repeatedly said he would match any offer for throughout last season.

Plus, the team’s biggest star beyond Rose in posting the NBA’s best record in back-to-back seasons was its depth, its Bench Mob. That unit, save for Taj Gibson, whose extension is next on the docket, has been dismantled.

Management will say its financial decisions are cloaked in basketball reasons. With Rose out until likely March, next season is a treading-water season. So instead of depth being the secondary star, the Bulls hope to add a legitimate one alongside Rose.

With Hinrich, Belinelli, Radmanovic and Mohammed all signing short-term deals, the plan to clear major salary-cap space in 2014 will remain intact. That’s also when Luol Deng’s contract expires, Nikola Mirotic could come over from Real Madrid and Carlos Boozer likely will be a victim of the amnesty provision.

On the one hand, it would seem to make sense for the Bulls to tread water while Rose is on the mend and try to keep their options open for the future.

But if their superstar can make a complete recovery and be back at full strength next spring by the time the playoffs start, wouldn’t it be nice to have a supporting cast that is just as strong as the one he left?

For a team that’s had the best regular season record in the league the past two years and appeared prime contenders, things are definitely, uh, different in Chicago these days.

What The Bulls Need is a True SG to go Along with DRose
The Bulls should try to trade Boozer and some other players for a solid Shooting Gaurd and Start Taj Gibson Or Trade Hamilton for a SG
The Starting Line Up should be
Pg:Rose
SG: Who ever they traded For
SF:Deng
PF: Gibson
C: Noah
And to all the people that talk badly about NBA players
well u dont have the right to talk about them that way they were good enough to make it into the NBA even if it was the worst player in the NBA.. At leats he made it and if u were to play any of these NBA players one on one yous wouldn’t have a chance against them i hate when people talk badly about professional athletes as if like yous were any better
For all of you who say that Rose isn’t a Good Player
That is because he shouldn’t even be a Point Gaurd yes he is a great player at such a young age but he plays more like a Shooting Gaurd than a point gaurd
Point Gaurd are supposed to control the offense Rose is a scorer he is a DWade type player
His size is the only thing stopping him from moving to the SG position
Rose is a great player all of yous r just hater

the Bulls are a decent team without Derrick Rose only if they play to there potential. Boozer played better than he did last season and i believe that was because he knows the plays better and stayed healthy. I really think the Bulls should sit Derrick Rose out for the whole season so he will be fully healed and ready to go for the 2013-14 season because even if he come back at the end of the season it’s gonna take him the whole time to get back use to playing after an injury like that and he want be about to put up the numbers like he’s been putting up. It also gives the young players like Marquis Teague, Marco Belinelli, and Jimmy Butler more playing time and time to get use to the plays and use to the players. At best i think the team is still a second-round contender just because of how they played against a very young and talented Philly team in the playoffs

I’m sorry but I don’t see a healthy Bulls team losing to the Heat. When its a close game (as all bulls vs. heat games are) 2 minutes left it comes down to Lebron vs bulls D (more or less Deng) and Rose vs heat D (more or less Chalmers, maybe Lebron)….either way with the help of Tibbs play calling, the bulls have a SLIGHT advantage. When the bulls lost 4-1 two years ago they were much worse of a team than they are now. The heat only had to focus on rose, now its rose, hamilton, deng, bellineli, noah, boozer, etc. Lebron this playoffs was at the climax of his career, he will not play the way he did this past post season ever again. He is about to start his slow decline as wade and bosh have. Rose is 23 and still in the conversation of best player in the league! I like him to win this year and honestly about 6 or 7 more with continuing improvements made by the owners. He’s been a winner since high school and it continues every year. Lebron I can’t say the same. Yea he won this year, but there’s always that asterik, that what if.. because of derrick rose and noah injuries.

yea after winning short season injury plague teams cause of this damed concecutive games just nba to get profit out of this many games in a short season. miami is lucky they didnt hit injuries like other team did. now every player on team is great?. won i full season and no injuries to other teams first. lebron is the only good player on that team.

bulls will never win championship next season so saving some cap space for the future is the right thing to do, let rose take his time to heal, let him heal and train so when he comes back he will be back just like he left us, and by that time, he will not be the only star, but he will have a plenty of average bench player and a sidekick stars. Im sure stars will come to chicago becuase of the cap space and because of derrick rose…

we have the sidekicks we need already! teams do not have to follow the star trend to win! it is not all about star power, it is about playing well collectively as a TEAM!!!!! That is something the bulls have and Tibbs gives us in coaching. We can definetly beat the heat this year in the playoffs. When it happens, just remember some guy on a blog called it…

in support, boozer was on olympic team twice and gibson on practice team this year..noah border line all star as well (enough star power for u??)

I’m so tired of everybody counting the bulls out and hopping on the heat bandwagon. They wouldn’t even have won this year if it wasn’t for Rose and Noah being injured. Yes they added Allen and Lewis, but Allen is a SG and Lewis is a SF…D Wade and Lebron play these positions and will still see most of the playing time. They are not going to contribute like most think they will. The heat also do not play well against defensive minded teams such as a healthy Bulls team. Thats why they almost lost to boston this past year, Miami is OVER RATED!

Secondly, the Bulls did not lose much this offseason (if at all). Breaking down by position, Kirk is a better offender and defender than C.J. watson was. Kyle Korver was replaced with Belleneli (if i spelled it right), but Belleneli can put the ball on the floor and is a better defender than Korver and still shoots 40% from three after his first 5 seasons in NBA. Brewer was a solid defender but so is Jimmy Butler who will receive more playing time this year, and Butler is a better scorer as well. Asik was a loss defensively and rebounding, BUT this give Taj more playing time and I’m taking Taj over Asik ANY DAY!!! Not to mention by 2014 we have Mirotic coming, so we are just fine where we stand with the big men.

We struggled with bench scoring last year, so bring boozer off the bench to have a go to guy on the bench for scoring. Also, it would improve our starting lineup defensively!! Bellineli could replace Hamilton in starting lineup depending on their play, but either one would be solid, but I like Rip defensively thats why I chose him. Butler as our 8th option. Bring Radmonivich on in Scalabrine situations or when big men in foul trouble. He spreads the floor with his 3pt shooting ability. Marcus Teague by the way will create plays for shooters, driving and kicking the ball out and I’m taking him over watson (low key). Watson did not create plays he just called them. Overall, when Rose is back (hopefully mid-january i’ve been reading), the bulls have a BETTER TEAM than they did before.

Lastly, shout out to Tibbs because he is what makes us better than the Heat. Spoolstra is not a good coach and that is why we beat the heat twice last year WITHOUT ROSE!! Not to mention we had the best record in the league with him missing half the season…All these heat groupies need to tighten up because ya’ll are in for a surprise. And everybody keeps acting like Rose won’t be healthy come playoff time (really before). And most of the time Heat vs Bulls games come down to the end which goes to coaching and Rose vs Lebron…Tibbs wins that battle and Rose is much more clutch!!!!

Shout out to Rose, met you a couple times you might not remember but I know you still cool wit one of my best friends

@WADE- I know you were joking with the Chalmers line. If not your friends need to call the guys in the white lab coats. I do agree with you about the Bulls chances. The Bulls are going nowhere in the near future even with a healthy Rose.

@wade you are the dumbest excuse for a basketball fan i’ve ever seen. You know absouloutly nothing about the game. First off rose has 6 years signed with the bulls. lebron and wade each have 2 years left with player options, secondly, Adidas would NEVER have their cover athletes of basketball fall on the same team, EVER. Thirdly, your grammar is horrid, what are you 10 years old? Lastly, they will never win without michael? I don’t even know what to say about that, the bulls were argueably the favourite to win this year up to the point of D rose’s injury. Give them 1-2 years to rebuild around D Rose and then see. I guarntee you this, in 5 years when D rose is 28 and in his prime while lbj is 31 and d wade is 34, chicago will be far better a team than miami.

The Bulls bench gave the team strength and was the reason why they got the best record when the starters faltered and or were injured. Sorry to see Amir, need his defense, plus CJ Watson, Brewer, Lucas III, and Korver. If it wasn’t for Watson and Lucas the bulls would have fallen apart since Rose was out. I don’t know how things will pan out next season, but right now I’m not happy. Who do I complain to?

I think he mentioned Chalmers because he played well in the last two finals games. Scoring 20+ points in each one and single handley just went through the D and made layups. I think it’s because they put so much attention on D WADE, LEBRON and BOSH. Either way he stepped up when it mattered. He still pisses me off with his plays but he can get better as time goes on. I mean how can you not get better playing with dwade, lebron, bosh and battier.

yep cheaper price tags but i dont see them contributing as much as their recent roster…. honestly i think mohammed i think is a great rebounder compared to asik, korver is a much better shooter than Radmanovic (but radmanovici s better in defending), Watson was the best reserve guard that can support rose and they got Hinrich, Marco Bellineli added was good

even the sports wtiters can’t see that the the bulls won’t pay the luxury tax……. it is if you exceed the limit at the end of the season not at the start the bulls will ship off deng this year for a smaller expiring contract and be under the limit

LOL…Alot of people are disrespecting the Bulls, bz of the moves they are making…What people are forgetting, the Bulls play the best defense in the whole league…Coach Thibs is the best coach in the NBA..(should of been coach of the year two years straight)..
2012 Eastern Standings:

I think with Derrick Rose out until march, the bulls should not bring him back next year give him an extra 6 months or so to get his knee even stronger. Without Rose i don’t see the Bul s making the Playoffs. I think Gar Foreman sees this and the Bulls will be in the lottery. Get a prime pick that can mesh with Rose and the rest of the players. One bad season will not destroy the Bulls and their title hopes.

i think they should get rid of boozer cause he got a really big contract en i dont think he does the thing you exept of someone for so much money.. i think the bulls should get another BIG star and a few more years to beat heat.. I’m a real bull fan but i dont see them winning the comming 2 years from the heat.. But if the GM makes a smart move and get a (few) good player(s) it would be really intressting.

I dont really see much of a downgrade with the summer moves the Bulls Made. The only bench mob they will miss will be Kyle Korver who can knock down the three and run the baseline.

It will be the same Bulls in my opinion especially if Deng, Hamilton, and Boozer can stay healthy.

Hinrich > CJ Watson
Mohammed = or > Asik
Jimmy Butler = Ronnie Brewer

Taj Gibson will need to have a good year and Hamilton will need to produce more until Rose comes back but It will just be a matter of staying healthy for the Bulls as it has been for the past couple years.

Just think of it this way.First of all.Making a big team and a Championship team takes a lot of marketing skills and patience.You have got to be super lucky to become a Champion in a year.Second of all you have to spend money and invest and risk a lot.BULLS OWNER IS NOT A SPENDER NORE HAVE ANY MARKETING SKILLS.HE IS ONE STINGY LUCKY BUSINESSMAN.I love the BULLS but thats not the way to build a team.I feel Bad For ROSE,TIBS,NOAH and DANG.But this team aint goin nowere.

RIP and BOOZ out!!!! RIP retired due health issues.BOOZ takes more money than Lu the glue, the spirit man of the team,it’s a shame.
WITH THE ADDITION OF AN ALL STAR SG THEN THEY WILL REBUILT THE DYNASTY!!!

Am I missing something but people act like we lost our whole starting lineup and not the bench for the entire season. If the bulls can make the playoffs and the starting lineup is health come playoff time, I think this bench is better than the one we had the last 2 seasons! Kyle Korver is 31 and Marco Belinelli is 26, same skill set except Belinelli is more skilled. Then Nazr Muhommad is older BUT he has a better offensive game then Asik. Then Jimmy Butler and Taj coming back are just still getting better and better. Throw in Hinrich who is a smart player and Marquis Teague that is a solid bench! I do agree with everyone else, amnesty Boozer next season and get someone who is better!

Your all wrong. If anything this is a better bench. Asik is not worth 25.1million let alone 5 million in te first year. He is a horrible offense player granted he is a solid defensive player. The players who were on the bulls didn’t create the benc mob cause of who they are, they created it because of their coach. When someone mentions
bench mob they should credit Tom Thibs for forming this solid team. No other coach in the league could bring out all of a players talent and potential like Tom has.

The shadow of the New York Knicks? All the Knicks got this year is Ray Felton and a bunch of dinosaurs. I don’t see how those additions are going to make the Knicks go from a 7 or 8 seed team to competing with Miami.

Expecting Rose to be ready for the playoffs next year is very unrealistic and not fair to him.
He will need a full season to get some of his physical attributes (speed, hops, etc…) back. Some are now gone and will not return.

The first of the truly elite players to accept a deal way below what they are worth (but still an amount that, when you factor in sponsorships, is more than anybody should need for a lifetime) will probably end their career with about 5 championships. The only thing players claim to be important to them is championships; how about you help your team to buy one by saving them $5-10 million a season without breaking a financial sweat personally? Old argument, but I can’t think of a single example of this happening in the history of the NBA (when I say truly elite, I do not include Charles Barkley at the Rockets).

Celtics are done. It will be between the heat and the Pacers next year. The Pacers have one of the youngest teams and are only getting better. You just don’t hear about them because they dont have a major star and becasue they are in a smaller market.

As much as I loved the Bulls bench, I think the financial decisions make more sense. Without Rose they wont win it all, so why sign away a ton of money to even try. the article is dead-on in saying it’s a treading water season. Look, Rose wont be full strength by the time the playoffs start. even if his knee is 100%, he wont be playing the way he was. That’ll happen the following season. And he’ll be 24. With his prime ahead of him. with these financial decisions, theyll be able to build another championship caliber team once Rose really is fully back to being DerRock.

im glad you pointed this out. Im picking up similarities between these Bulls and James Cavaliers. If the Bulls fail to make the finals before the end of Roses contract (5 years right?) then another city is going to lose its ‘native son’.

I think what he means is that european basketball allows defenders to use more contact when defending, especially when defending in backcourt. It by no means is more physical as in players’ strength. You were able to see that physical style when US was playing against Spain. That style doesn’t make eurobasketball better, I like NBA in every single way.

It’s time to rebuild for the bulls. Acl injury normally takes almost 2 years to heal. No one has ever came back from a acl in 1 year at full strength. I say give rose the year off. Trade and clear up cap space. I don’t know if anyone want Carlos boozer but I’d try to trade luol deng for a young small forward on his rookie deal. Then sign a big free agent this summer along with a high lottery pick. Only problem is I don’t think there’s any good free agents for the bulls.

Sratch that last part. Andrew Bynum is available and yeah the dudes a bit of a Knuckle head but he is the best offensive center in the league. Can easily average 25 and 12 plus 2 blocks. Try to get Josh smith right next to him. Besides who doesn’t love Chicago.

Addias told Howard not to go to the Bulls because Rose is also part of Addidas. It would be harder for them to sell shoe’s because the would have to stars on the same team… Think marketing and having to come up with two different shoe designs for the same team.

The Bulls best bet is to tank it this year. Even if Rose comes back in March, he wont be 100% (most players dont get back to their true form for 1 1/2-2 years) meaning hes not going to be able to carry that team, great supporting cast or not. Give marquis teague some significant playing time or even starter’s minutes to see what you really have in him. Let Deng and Hamilton sit out and rest their injuries and give jimmy butler a chance to shine. Maybe you even change your offense up and give Joakim Noah some more touches and make him develop his offensive game a little more.
All these things are going to result in A LOT of losses but at least your key players are improving, and you dont wear Deng out anymore than he needs to be. You have no chance at a championship this year so what you need to do is give yourself the best chance to succeed in 2013-2014 and that happens by getting yourself more scoring out of players other than rose (improve teauge, butler, hopefully Noah.) Now you get yourself a high lottery pick possibly that you can either use or trade for another valuable piece to the puzzle.

Now in 2013-2014 youve got:
1) a healthy Rose/Hinrich/Teague
2)Hamilton? Shabazz Muhammed*/Belinelli
3)Deng/Butler
4)Boozer/Gibson
5)Noah/veteran backup
and then mirotic coming the year after gives you more depth. Solid squad, with a nice mix of young talent and capable veterans to go with Rose, Deng, and Noah.

I pity my Bulls. From title contenders to a now mediocre team, our only hope now is for Rose to get well, he is the only chance for us to be able to compete with the MIAMI HEAT. Maybe Fran Blineburry was right, the new additions are hardly a five-some that is going to make Dwyane Wade and LeBron do much more than yawn.

WADEBRON is such an unstoppable and formidable duo…even our very Best…A healthy D-ROSE with a competitive NOAH and BOOZER are still no match for the amazing Heat Duo..and now with Allen and Lewis. We could just hope we won’t be swept in the playoffs.

I hope our GM could pull off the almost impossible, and that is to get DWIGHT HOWARD to the Bulls, in exchange for Nazr Mohamed, Radmonivic and we could release one of our stars, DENG or HAMILTON just to get DH12.

it’s so tru dat wade is a sell out if u love your hometown you will be here den!!! no one in chicago really likes you the heat is a team a kid will create on 2k!! GO BULLS DON’T CARE IF WE DON’T MAKE IT GO BULLS!!!!!!!!!!!

Amnesty Carlos Boozer that should have been the first move losing Omer Asik is huge because Carlos Boozer clearly can’t handle Tom Thibodeau’s defense people are wondering why Carlos Boozer has been on the decline since leaving Utah it’s because Jerry Sloan knew how to play Boozer Tom Thibodeau’s defense is no joke and Chicago better find a way to bring in some defensive minded big men!

bulls will never ever win a championship with derrick rose is the only star! how can you beat Miami with wade,james,bosh,allen,lewis,battier and chalmers there is no way in the hell I can think off even in my baddest dream!! even boston can beat chicago

@wade- THAT’S BLASPHEME TO THE NBA!!! I like Chalmers, but if your saying he’s better than Magic (not a Laker’s fan, but Magic was amazing) than you are crazy. Chalmers fits well in Miami’s offence, but I wouldn’t pay big money for him.

Please buddy, lewis?? He hasn’t been rashard since he left the magic, and as for battier who only caught fire in the finals…PLEASE. He does nothing all season, and I doubt he can pull that again in the playoffs again. As for boston?? Dude, boston has a better team than miami right now, we all know terry can shoot and that boston took miami to the brink with injuries and not the talent they picked up this year. Show me that allen hasn’t lost his juice after his injury(which it clearly looked like he did) and maybe I’ll consider them better. They got bradley back, along with terry, a healthy wilcox, sullinger, fab melo, courtney lee, and are about to sign jeff green who will be healthy. I don’t think you understand, “you have been measured, outweighed, and outmatched” your time is done. Dude, I think you’re so far up your own a$$ that you don’t realize the competition this year. It’s ten times worse than last year, look at the nets who picked up crazy with d-will, joe johnson, gerald wallace, humphries, and lopez…along with picking up PF reggie evans, and c.j. watson, not to include they STILL have marshon brooks! Did you forget about the lakers? What about dallas?? Who picked up brand, mayo, kaman, darren collison, and delonte west. They already have dirk, vince, and the matrix(marion). What about the clippers?? Who picked up crawford, re-signed billups, got odom…like…why do you miamians think this year is an easy take?? Because you picked some buster who hasn’t shot well since 2009?? Allen is a big help…IF he shoots the way he did BEFORE his injury. Because let me tell you something, ray ray doesn’t miss free throws. After that injury he shot like a rookie dude…he was all over the place.

@DLion Are you serious?? I hope that list is not in any particular order… I agree Chris Paul is the best Point Guard in the NBA today… But when you list the point guards in any order Derrick Rose should not be listed second, and Isiah should never be that low on any list….

Todays top three point Guards that can run an offense and make players around them look good is CP3, and then Rajon Rondo… Best Scoring Guard in the League is Westbrook, not Derrick Rose…

The last time I’ve checked the Chicago Bulls were a winning team because of their Rebounds and their Defense… and they about did the same thing as last years regular season with out Rose….

Boozer was the biggest change to the team, him coming there made the team better… Rose was already there. Boozer does things that do not show up on the stat sheet… He is a big body and he sets the best picks… He is always in position to get a rebound, if he does not get the rebound he has his man boxed out so that his teammate can get the ball…

The Bulls are not successful on a point guard taking 20 shots to get 23 points… The Bulls organization needs some damn loyalty and some patience….

Getting Kirk Heinrich back was a really good move.. Should have kept Tyrus, should have kept, Nocioni, should have kept Chandler, should have kept Salmons, should have kept Gordon on the bench, should have kept Sephalosa… You can’t build a team to prepare for one team in the eastern conference…. People think the bulls lost to the sixers because there was no Derrick Rose??? Are you kidding me? The bulls haven’t beat the sixers twice in a season since Ben Gordan was their franchise player… I know that it hurts, but Derrick Rose can’t even be mentioned with the great point guards because he has had one good season.. in which his stats look like an average season for a prime Gary Payton…

@BENCAMERONDAVIS1: This list isn’t in the exact order, per se, but I wouldn’t change it much anyway. You are probably right about Thomas, but by your criteria, he has had only one good season too. I also believe that Rose, when fully healthy, is one of the league’s finest PG’s. Williams is good, but he hasn’t (yet) had the positive effect on his team like Rose has. Sure, the Nets’ roster was not as good as the Bulls’, but Rose’s impact on the team is undeniable to say the least. However, Rose is only number 2 when he is healthy. Since full health may be a state Rose sadly never finds himself in again, or at least for a while, he slips down a few spots. So for practicality (which is the main thing that matters), Rose is not the #2 PG in the league; but without injuries, he is.